The Least He Could Do
by Legolas Dragon Ranger
Summary: Koga's pupil sure excels at making his life hard! With her common mood changes, her constant defiance of his teachings, and her lack of respect towards his cherished traditions... How had she ever managed to sneak her way into his heart? (One-shot. Companion to Unova's Downfall, but no knowledge of it required to read.)


**The Least He Could Do**

 _LDR: I've been terribly inactive lately, but stuff happened and I got reeeaaally hooked on an amazing anime called Fairy Tail. I've been spending a lot of time watching it instead of doing something like writing. Anyway, here I am with this one-shot because there aren't enough fics with Koga around! It also features an OC of mine that is the protagonist of Unova's Downfall, which can be found on my profile! I'd love for you guys to check it out, and __I might add chapters to this and turn it into a series of one-shots about the previously mentioned OC. Also, before anyone leaves me an angry review saying that Koga/Lt. Surge/Sabrina are not part of Team Rocket... **it is a canon fact**. Go read the Pokemon Adventures manga, specifically the Kanto-based books. Now, with that out of the way...someone get in here to do the disclaimer! *reaches into a box to pull out a random Pokemon character* Oh, look at that! It just so happens that I grabbed the topic of this conversation! Do the disclaimer, ninja-man, wouldja?_

 _Koga: LDR does not own Pokemon, and never will._

 _LDR: Ah, and a life-long dream is crushed... On with the story! Actually, before that, there's one more thing to say. I've always considered Koga to be very stuck on tradition and stuff, so this fic will have the occasional Japanese word (gotten through Google Translate, and typed here in italics) and will use many honorifics (found on Wikipedia). If anything is wrong, then blame the source and not me, but I'm hoping nothing will be.  
_

* * *

"Why do I gotta learn this stuff? Lt. Surge's lessons are a bunch more fun."

Koga's brow creased in annoyance as he stared at the child in front of him, not at all enjoying the familiar sight of the defiant spark in her dark blue eyes as she just stood there and messed with the few strands of her chocolate brown hair that had escaped her ponytail, while she began her daily routine of questioning his teachings. "I am one of the three that Giovanni-sama placed in charge of your training."

"This is stupid though, Koga! I-"

"Rain-kohai, how am I to be addressed?"

"...Koga-sensei." The young girl crossed her arms, muttering under her breath about 'dumb traditional stuff'.

"Very good." Koga stepped forward, looking down at his pupil. "Are you questioning my teachings, again, Rain-kohai?" The ninja sighed inwardly as she gave the expected answer.

"Yes!"

"Must I be put through this ordeal on a daily basis? My young _hitomi_ , every day your questions are the same. My answers still do not differ. Brute strength, such as you learn from Surge-san, does not win every battle. Neither can you rely alone on the mental techniques that Sabrina-san teaches-"

"Sabrina's lessons are boring too. You just need strength to win a fight!" That defiant look remained. A level of defiance that should not be displayed by a child of 10 years.

"Do not interrupt, Rain-kohai."

"... ... ..." Rain glowered at the floor of the dojo. At an annoyed prompting from the ninja, she muttered, "I'm sorry Koga-sensei."

"It takes a combination of both physical strength and mental capability to win fights. To be quite frank, and I say neither of these with any ill will, Surge-san is a brute and Sabrina-san has shut herself away completely within her own mind, focusing on nothing else. Now then, shall we continue?"

Despite the fact that it had been phrased as a question, the young girl knew that it was no such thing. With a resigned sigh, she picked up the training _katana_ she'd dropped.

* * *

A week or so later, Rain failed to show up for her training. Koga just sighed softly as he strode through the halls of the Viridian City base. It seemed today was going to be one of _those_ days for his young pupil.

His suspicions were confirmed only minutes later as he found himself outside the door of her quarters and heard the crash of something falling over. Despite knowing what was to result from such an action, he lifted a hand to rap his knuckles gently against the surface of the door. "Rain-kohai, have you forgotten that you have training to do?"

"GO AWAY!" A shattering sound on the other side of the door followed her screeched words.

Rather than leave as was...requested, Koga placed a hand on the doorknob and turned it, pushing the door open and swaying aside to easily avoid the shoe that was thrown at his head. The room was dark, but light from the hallway spilled in to fall upon the young girl glaring at him, her eyes wild with rage. "Rain-kohai," he began, his voice quiet, patient.

"I said to go away!" she snarled, her tone full of nothing but fury. A level of fury that should not be displayed by a child of 10 years.

"Very well then. I shall leave you be." He would rather not, but the words escaped him unwillingly as a hulking figure came up behind Rain. Illuminated by the hallway's light was a Nidoking that more than double the average size for its species, its rough, purple hide covered in scars. Koga would never admit it to anyone, even himself, but that Nidoking frightened him. It was an over-powered _kemono_ , a brute that would not hesitate to attack and completely obliterate anything that it deemed a threat to the young girl that was its Trainer. Apparently, its over-protectiveness came from fatherly instincts, as it had raised the child for two years.

The ninja silently turned and exited the room, shutting the door behind him.

* * *

A few days after, Rain showed up to training with nothing but silent resignation. She didn't speak a word during warm-up. She seemed disconnected from the world as the two sparred with their _katana_. She didn't complain one time during his lessons on the traditions of the culture of Kanto and Johto, traditions that he so stubbornly clung to and valued whereas others in this day and age seemed ready to do away with them.

Koga didn't like it. She had acted this way only twice before, and it concerned the ninja. Deep within, he knew a soft spot was growing for the child. She was beginning to seem more and more like _kazoku_ to him, slowly creeping up to situate herself with Janine within his heart. Despite her common mood changes, and her daily questioning of his Pokemon battling lessons, the traditions he cherished, the ninjutsu techniques he taught her... It pained him to see the child this way, and he was thankful that today was one of her days with him. She'd quickly wormed her way into Lt. Surge's affections, he knew, and it would break the Lightning American's heart to see her in such a subdued state. It was a level of submissiveness that should not be displayed by a child of 10 years.

Finally unable to stand it, the ninja dismissed her for the day and settled onto the floor of the dojo to silently reflect on his first meeting with the girl.

* * *

 _It had happened seven months ago. The Command Triad had been summoned to Giovanni's office, where they were met with the sight of a young girl, perhaps a year older than the Rocket Boss' twin children, and several years younger than his red-haired son. She'd been introduced as Rain Tanaka, the only daughter of two of Team Rocket's more valued scientists. Apparently they had been working on the Mewtwo project before Red's interference. Now she was here, and beginning her training as a member of Team Rocket.  
_

 _Giovanni had big plans for her, apparently recognizing some sort of gift within her known as Aura - the same power that one of his twin children had. This young girl was supposed to end up very high in the rankings, along with his twins, and he was entrusting her training to the members of the Command Triad._

 _Lt. Surge had readily accepted his role as one of the child's teachers, and the two had become close within days. Sabrina had perhaps been the most reluctant to take on the young girl as a student, and had treated the child with the same frosty demeanor that she displayed to everyone but her fellow Triad members, Giovanni, and Giovanni's dark-haired young boy. For reasons Koga could not figure out, the boy's redheaded twin sister was not treated the same way that he was. Koga himself had not been as eager, nor as reluctant, as his comrades to take the child on as a pupil. Normally a patient man, he found himself getting frustrated with her constant shifts in mood, her common defiance, and her lack of respect towards him and the traditions he tried to teach her._

 _A few months after training had begun, he found his frustrations beginning to slowly turn to mere annoyance as Rain slowly but surely crept her way into his heart._

* * *

The next week, Rain again didn't show up for training, and Koga found himself once more outside her door. He didn't both knocking this time, just let himself in. Unlike the previous time, there was no hint of anger and the room was already lit, though the lights had still not been turned on. This had been the first thing that alerted Koga to the fact that something was wrong.

The source of this light were the flames coming from his young pupil's Quilava.

Five Pokemon huddled around a small, sobbing form on the floor. Her first Pokemon, the one she'd inherited from her parents when she was eight years old, the Nidoking that frightened everyone but her. The first Pokemon she'd stolen, all three at once and having since evolved from their basic forms, a Quilava, Bayleef, and Croconaw. The Pokemon she'd picked out when she began her training, an Ekans that Koga knew would evolve any day now.

"Rain-kohai?" The ninja crossed the room in quick strides. Her Pokemon reluctantly parted, allowing him to crouch next to her.

"K-Koga-sensei!" The tears pouring down her face, the young girl practically threw herself at him, wrapping her arms tightly around his lithe frame and burying her face in his chest as she sobbed.

"Hush, _hitomi_. What's the matter?"

"I- I..." She sniffled, trying to speak through her heart-wrenching sobs. "I w-want M-Mommy a-and...and Daddy!" She tilted her head up to look at him, and when he met her gaze he nearly wanted to cry himself. It was full of so much pain, loneliness, and longing, more than should ever be displayed by anyone, no matter their age.

"Rain-kohai, you know that can't happen."

"I *sniff* know, Koga-sensei. B-but I still..." She dissolved into tears again, once more burying her face in his chest.

Acting without thought, Koga adjusted his position so that he was sitting cross-legged on the floor with the young girl in his lap. "Rain-kohai - no, Rain-chan..." The man paused as she met his gaze once more at the sudden change in the honorific he used to address her. "Rain-chan, I am sorry you miss your parents. But you know you can't see them. However." Here he paused again, to take one of her hands in his own and push her slightly away so he could guide her hand to rest it over her heart. "If you remember them, and keep them in here, they'll be with you no matter where you are."

It was a few minutes until Rain's tears slowed enough for her to reply. "O-okay, Koga-sensei," she whispered.

"It also helps to just cry sometimes. But you shouldn't do so alone. It's not weak to seek the comfort of others." The ninja let his young pupil collapse against him again as she nodded. He wrapped his arms around her and let her continue to cry. At that moment, he made a silent promise to himself: he would always be around for the young girl. She was something special; she was like a second daughter to him.

It was the least he could do for a little girl who'd become an orphan the day after she turned eight.

* * *

 _LDR: There it is! Okay, about these 'twins' that were mentioned...this is a one-shot about one of my stories (mentioned in the beginning A/N) in which Giovanni has not only Silver, but a pair of twins. Mainly because I prefer to keep Silver as an anti-Rocket person, but also wanted offspring of Giovanni to be part of Team Rocket. Let's see...I think that's about it. R &R y'all. Any flames shall be stomped out by Rain's monstrous Nidoking. LDR out!  
_


End file.
